Antifriction bearing



Dec. 8, 1931. R j OLANDER 1,835,178

ANTIFRICTION BEARING Filed May 12, 1928 30 the top of the housing.-

Patented Dec. 8, 1931 UNITED STATES BoLANn :r. oIlANDcER, or CHIC-l ed,xLnnvois, AssIe voR TO w. MINER, inoQor GHICAGQILLINOIS; AoonronAtrronor DELAWARE I Am rnIorIoN BEARING Application filed May .12,1928. seri 1iNo. 277,202.- i

This invention relates to improvements in ant1-fr1ct1on bearlngs.

One object of the invention is t o'provide an anti-friction bearingespecially adapted 5 for use asa side bearing member forrailway cars, ofsimple constructiomwherein the antifriction element proper 1s'self-centermg'un der the influence of gravity, is positively guided tocentered position, and is held 0 against chattering in all ofitsoperative positions.v a p i 4 1 Another object of the invention is toprovide an anti-friction side bearing for railway cars, including arolling anti-friction element which is self-centering, and a retaininghousing for the anti-friction element provided with a hardened steelbearing plate on which the anti-friction element rolls, the plate havingupstanding centering knobs or lugs a pressed'therein which cooperatewith bearing openings or pockets in the anti-friction element, whereinthe housing is :open at'the bottom to permit insertion ofitheanti-frictron element and bearing plate, the bottom opening being closedby a separable plate securedthereto, thereby retaining the parts inassembled relation, he anti-friction element having shoulderedengagement with the housing to prevent removal thereof through Othenandfurther'objects' of the invention will 'moreclearly appear fromthedescription and claims hereinafter following.

View through portions of the body and truck bolsters of a railway car,illustrating my improvements in connection therewith, the antifrictionelement being shown in full lines'in of the bearing member shown inFigure 1.

And Figure 3 is a vertical, transverse, sectional view, correspondingsubstantially to [ment being illustratedin elevation. 1

p In said drawings, 10 denotes the under side portlon'of the bodybolster of'azrailway ca-r, andll the upper portion. of anopposed truckbolster. In "the, present instance, my improved ant -fraction bearing isillustratedas secured to thetruckbolster. a i

Y My improved anti-friction "bearing lcomprises, broadly, a retaininghousing, A; an

anti-friction element B; a bearing plat e C;

bottom of thehousing, V

The retaining member or housing A pro .vided with vertical, 'spacedsside walls 1212 and transversely disposed, vertical, spaced endwalls 13-" 13; -At the bottom, the lions ing is'provided withlaterallylprojeeting seof the truck bolster 11, as clearly shown inFigure 1. The side walls 12 of'the housing are provided with inwardlyprojecting re- :tainin'g flangesf16.16 at the top thereof, theretaining'fianges 16 having a thickened centralportion 17 providing adepending ingand;the :central portion of the; lower edge of 1 said"flange immediately adjacent.

thereto is inclined downwardly in opposite directions, as indicated at18-18, ffor a purpose hereinafter described. The side walls 212 and theendwalls .13 "are interiorly cut away at, the. bottom of the; housing,thereby. presentingupwardly inclined abutment faces" 19-49, the abutmentfaces 19: of opposite sidewalls convergingupwardly. I

As shown the housing A is open both at the top and thebottom is 55 and aseparate bottom plateD for closinggthe i 5 reta1n1ng,sect1on. The bottomedge of each of the flanges 16 is disposed substantially srhorizontallyat the opposite ends of the hous- Inthe drawings, forming a part of this5- specification, Figure 1 is a vertical,sectional i closed by the plateD, which, as shown, is relatively thick. The same is preferably composedof malleable iron. The plate D comprises a substantially fiat centralbody portion, provided with corner lugs 20-20, which, as shown, are ofgreater thickness than the body portion of the plate. The lugs 20 are soarranged as to be disposed in the corners of the housing, and betweenthe lugs 20, at oposite ends of the housing, the plateD is cut away, asindicated at 21, to provide openings through which cinders and otherforeign matter which may accumulate in the housing is discharged.

The end walls 13 of the housing are also provided with dischargeopenings 22-22 in alignment with the cut-away portions 21 of the bottomplate. The side and end edges of the bottom plate are upwardly beveled,as indicated at 23, so as to fit the abutment wall sections 19 of theside and end walls of the housing. Adjacent the cut-away section 21, atone side of the housing, as indicated at 24E-24l in Figure 2, the bottomplate D is undercut so that upon upsetting the corresponding lower edgesof the end walls inwardly the bottom plate will be retained in lockedposition by the overlapping wall sections thus provided. One of thelongitudinal side edges of the bottom plate D is also undercut, asindicated at 25 in Figure 3, and the corresponding side wall 12 isinwardly offset to overlap this section to lock the plate to thehousing. The bottom section of the wall 12 is offset by hammering thesame over to displace the metal at the lower edge thereof in overlapingrelation with the bottom plate D. As clearly shown in Figures 1 and 2,the thickened lug members 20 of the bottom plate D provide transverselydisposed aligned abutment faces 26-26, which cooperate with the bearingplate C to retain the same in proper position when the parts of theanti-friction hearing are assembled.

The bearing plate C is preferably formed of hardened steel and pressedto the shape shown. The plate C is of substantially rectangular outlineand is provided with a pair of upstanding knobs or centering lugs 27-27,which are of substantially spherical formation.

The bearing plate C is of such a size as to fit between the abutmentshoulders 26 of the bottom plate D at opposite ends of the housing andis of substantially the same width as the interior of the housingbetween the side walls 12.

The anti-friction bearing element B, as shown, is in the form of arocker of substantially triangular cross section, having curved bearingsurfaces. The rocker is provided with three curved bearing surfaces28-28-28 of relatively long radius and three curved bearing surfaces29-29-29 of shorter radius. As shown, the bearing surfaces 28-28-28 arearranged in series and the bearing surfaces 29-29-29 of shorter radiusconnect each two adjacent bearing surfaces 28, the surfaces 29 mergingwith the surfaces 28.

With the conformation of rocker or bearing element B provided, the sameis positively centered under the influence of gravity and, due to thearrangement of concentric surfaces of differentradii in series, ashereinbefore described, the rocker or bearing element B, in its movementfrom the normal centered position to either side thereof, will have thebearing surface, which is disposed uppermost, spaced a constant verticaldistance from the point of contact of the rocker or bearing element withthe supporting bearing plate C.

In order to maintain the rocker bearing element B assembled with thehousing, the same is provided with retaining projections 30-30 on theopposite sides thereof.

As shown in Figure 1, the retaining projections are of substantiallytriangular outline, having inclined side edges 31-31 converging upwardlyand terminating in a curved connecting top edge face 32. As shown, theprojections 30 engage under the retaining ribs orflanges 16 of the sidewalls of the housing, and the curved end edges 32 are slightly spacedfrom the depending sections 17 of the flanges when the anti-frictionelement is in normal centered position. When the anti-friction element Bis rocked to either side of its centered position, one of the side edges31 of each of the retaining projections is brought into opposed relationto one of the inclined wall sections 18 of the enlargement 17 of thecorresponding flange 16, as clearly shown in dotted lines in Figure 1.The parts are so proportioned that substantially the same amount ofclearance is provided at all times between the edges of the retainingprojections 30 and the lower edges of the retaining flanges 16 of thehousing. By this arrangement, rattling or chattering of theanti-friction element is effectively prevented in all operativepositions of the same.

The bottom bearing surface 28 of the antifriction element B whichcooperates with the bearing plate C is provided with a pair of spacedcentering openings or pockets 33-33 which are adapted to cooperate withthe centering projections 27 of the bearing plate C. 7

By engagement of the bearing projections or knobs 27 of the plate Cwithin the pockets 33 of the anti-friction element B, shifting of therocker or bearing element in a longitudinal direction is positivelyprevented and the same is compelled to rock or roll to its centeredposition, as shown in Figure 1.

In assembling the parts of my improved anti-friction bearing, theanti-friction rocker element B is first inserted through the open bottomsection of the housing and the bearing plate C is placed in position onthe bot-. tom plate D, and the bottom plate inserted within the bottomopening of the housing.

7 When the bottom plate D has been forced into engagement with theabutment faces 19 of the walls of the housing, the bottom edge sectionsof the end walls and one of the side walls are hammered over, ashereinbefore described, to lock the plate D in position; The parts ofthe side bearing are thus held in as sembled relation and theanti-friction element B is prevented from escape through the top of thehousing by engagement of the retaining lugs with the flanges 16.

In the operation of my improved anti-friction bearing, upon relativeapproach of the body and truck'bolsters, the load is transmitted throughthe anti-friction rocker element B, and upon relative angular movementof the body and truck bolsters the anti-friction element B is rolled toone side ofcentered position, as indicated in dotted lines in Figure l;The displacement of the anti-friction element continues either until thebolsters are separated or movement of the antifriction element islimited by engagement with one of the end walls 13 of the houslng,

as clearly indicated in Figure 1. Then the bolsters are separated andthe load removed The necessary foundry operations in casting the partsare also greatly reduced by avoiding theuse of the usual retaining pinfor the anti-friction element. 7 The anti-friction rocker element isthus left solid, that is, it

is not provided with a pin receiving opening and the housing walls areleft intact by omitting the retaining pin guide openings. The housingand anti-friction rocker element may thus be cast without theuse of theusual cores which are necessarily employed in these foundry operations,thus further reducing the cost of manufacture. The manner of assemblingmy improved bearing also avoids all riveting for holding the partsassembled.

The employment of the stamped, hardened steel bearing plate for theanti-friction rocker element, not only simplifies the construction byelimination of the separate rivet members commonly used in bearings ofthis type,

wherein-the rivet members have centering heads or knobs thereon' and areformed of relativelyssoftmaterial,but also adds greatly to the life. ofthe-bearing member and its eflicient operation especially in that thebearing projectionsare formed ofthe same hardcned material as, and forma partof, the hardened bearing plateg l T j While I have herein shownand described what I consider thefpreferred mannerof carrying out myinvention, the same is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changesand modifications which come within the scope of the claims appendedhereto.

Iclaimr Y j I 1. In an anti-friction bearing for railway cars, adaptedto be interposed between the body and truck bolsters thereof, thecombination with a housing open at the top, said hous ing being providedwith inwardly overhanging retaining flanges at the top, having dependingcentral projections having bottom portions'inclined upwardly in oppositedirections; of an anti-friction rocker element within the housing, saidrocker having. retaining projections on the opposite sides thereof,adapted to engage beneath said flanges to prevent escape of the rockerthrough the open top of the housing, said retaining projections being oftriangular formation and each having upwardly converging side edgesconnected at the top by a curved edge engaged beneath the centralportion of the depending projection of the corresponding flange of thehousing when the rocker is in centered position and having one of saidconverging side edges engaged beneath the inclined bottom edgejat oneside of the center of said projection when said rocker is displaced toone side of its normal centered positiomisaid curved edges and said Iside edges being respectively equally spaced from the flanges of thehousing when said anti-friction element is in said respective centeredand displaced'positions.

2. In a side bearing, the combination with a; housing having end andentirely closed side walls, the latter being provided on their innerfaces with guide flanges; of a rolling, gravity, self-centering, solidanti-friction 7 element; a bearing plate having upwardly extendingintegral stud formations, said element having cooperating recesseswithin which the studs are-received and relative bodily shift betweensaid element and plate is prevented, said'anttfriotion element havingintegral projecting'wings engaging beneath the flanges of the side wallsof the housing to limit upward displacement of the element in allpositions thereof andpre-iventing disengagement of said studs; and abottom closure plate for the housing having integral projections betweenand by which said bearing plate is retained in centered position, saidbottom plate being secured to the housing by peening portions of oneagainst the other whereby said housing, anti friction element, bearingplate and bottom plate may be assembled entirely by'hand and allpermanently retained in operative assembled position, one with theother, solely by and upon the peening together of said bottom plate andhousing.

In Witness that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto subscribed my namethis 9th day of May, 1928.

ROLAND J. OLANDER.

